Israel’s News Blog Magazine: Daily Stories Video and Photos

U.S. President George Bush appeared to have been moved to tears during his visit Friday morning at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem. As he viewed many of the exhibits showing scenes from Auschwitz and other death camps where many of approximately 6 million Jews perished during WWII, Bush, who was accompanied by Israeli notables such as Prime Minister Olmert, President Shimon Peres, former Justice Minister Yosef (Tommy) Lapid (himself a Holocaust survivor) and Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev, was said to have shed tears at least twice.

As he viewed the exhibits, the President appeared to be so moved that he was quoted from Shalev as saying “we should have bombed it (Auschwitz) ” in reference to the map of the camp compound that was supposed to have been the one that then President Franklin D. Roosevelt was shown when he decided not to have U.S. Air Corps bombers attack during bombing raids in the later months of WWII.

Bush was said to have made this statement following his placing a wreath on a memorial containing the ashes of Jews murdered at six extermination camps, including Auschwitz, Bergen Belsen, Buchenwald, and Treblinka. This was the President’s first personal visit to Yad Vashem as he did not visit it during his visit as Governor of Texas in 1998. Though he did not appear to express it, he surely can testify that nobody can deny that the Holocaust existed, and in such a terrible scale.

That Bush was moved by his visit to the memorial, as well as his visit to the Jewish State is indicated in the words he wrote in the Yad Vashem guest book: “God bless Israel, George Bush”. He also made the point of shaking hands with members of a choir composed of young Israeli schoolgirls and posed with them for pictures.

The President ended his visit to Israel with a short tour of the Galilee and Lake Kineret, including the Christian holy sites of Capernaum and the Church of Beatitudes, where historian say Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount. The next stop on Bush’s Mid East tour is the Persian Gulf State of Kuwait. Though no final agreements were made by either Israel or the Palestinians during Bush’s short visit, the President seemed optimistic that a peace treaty will be made between the parties by the end of his term as President. He did note that Jerusalem “will be a problem” in regards to solving its final status.

The meetings with both Israeli and Palestinian officials have not concluded what will be done in regards to the Palestinians living in Hamas controlled Gaza, who took to the streets and demonstrated loudly against Bush’s visit, which did not include any contact with Hamas leader and former P.A. Prime Minister Ismail Hananyeh. These protests also included firing 12 Kassam rockets and at least 11 mortar rounds at the Israeli town of Sderot and nearby areas.

Bush said that he is willing to return to the region before his term expires to help implement a final peace agreement The only problem here is how to include 1.5 millions Palestinians whose leaders do not seem willing to go along with what their Palestinian brethren in the West Bank are involved in. Bush will most likely be pondering this problem during the remainder of his 8 day Middle East visit.

I read the comments and emails that came in and I agree. This isn’t right and I can’t back any of this up.
The Post has been removed !
The Urban Legend is at snopes.com

Worth watching and thank you for sending it in DZ..

Victories in the New Hampshire presidential primary by Republican Senator John McCain, and Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton appear the have little correlation with President George Bush’s visit to Israel today and several other Middle Eastern countries. McCain, who is usually depicted as a bit of a hawk, won comfortably over his closest rival, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney; while Clinton, barely got by her closest rival, Illinois Senator Barack Obama. While it’s still too early to tell who will wind up as their party’s official nominee, the next few weeks will definitely tell which way the political winds are blowing for hopefuls in both major political parties.

As for Bush, in what will most likely be his last major visit to the this part of the world, he really doesn’t have to worry what happens to anyone representing his political party, the Republicans, as most of the people running are not depending on his support anyway. That means that Mr. Bush can concentrate of trying to realize some of his plans concerning implementing a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, as well as making sure that oil rich countries like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia remain under America’s sphere of influence in order to keep that increasingly expensive commodity, oil, flowing into American refineries, and hence into American SUV’s.

Iran, especially after their aborted attempt to create an international incident with American naval vessels in the Straits of Hormuz, is another factor that Bush will have to deal with until he leaves office on January 20, 2009. Concerning who will be replacing him, all the outgoing president can do is to wish his successor will, whoever that person may be.

Perhaps that’s what is good about being an outgoing two term president. He is not really what is known as a “lame duck” as he is not under any serious political cloud such as an incumbent president is when losing a re-election bid. His vice president, Dick Cheney, is too old and too sick to run for the office, and Bush himself doesn’t appear, at this point in time anyway, to be personally indorsing any of his party’s candidates, including John McCain.

Bush’s main “cloud” if one wants to call it that is the matter of the U.S. led invasion of Iraq and its aftermath; which will be a main concern for his replacement, especially if he (or she) is a Democrat. Other issues, including the ongoing War on Terror and the current goings-on the Middle East (the focus of his current Middle East visit) will also carry over to his successor as no major breakthroughs will probably come to pass this year. And this is despite assurances by Israeli Prime Minister Olmert and P.A. Authority President Abbas that there might be some encouraging steps made towards a final peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Other problems including global warming, a possible U.S. recession, Pakistan’s current sate of flux, and Al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Ladin and Ayman al Zawahiri still presumed to be alive and kicking will be left to whoever is sitting in the Oval Office next January 21.

As for Bush, it will be back to Texas barbeques and Lone Star Beer, or whatever tickles his fancy.

8000 Police in the streets
2 Planes
20 Helicopters
8 Limos
5 Cooks
15 Bomb Detection Canine Units
250 Secret Service Agents
200 Government Employees
150 National Security Advisers
50 White House Staff Members
9 Kassam Rockets shot towards the Negev this morning
All Major Highways to Jerusalem Shut Down
All Main Streets in Jerusalem Closed
…..He’s here……

A recent survey conducted by one of Israel’s largest universities revealed some interesting facts regarding the sexual habits of Israeli women. Conducted by a group headed by Dr. Mayanet Shenhar, a prominent sexologist, the study interviewed women from several age groups as well as from various social and cultural backgrounds. Following the interviews, conducted over a period of several months, the following findings were revealed:

1. Only about 57% of all women interviewed said they could manage to achieve a satisfying orgasm during coitus.
2. More than 50% of younger women interviewed preferred to have without use of a condom. This revelation appeared to be despite the danger of AIDS/HIV and other sexual transmitted diseases.
3. 80% of the women interviewed believed that (male) organ size is important to achieve proper sexual satisfaction (who doesn’t think this?).
4. Only 23% of Israeli women use sexual enhancers such as vibrators.

In an interview on an Israeli Channel 10 morning program, Dr. Shenhar and Dr. Arik Schecter, a Haifa based sexologist specializing in sexual dysfunction among individuals and couples, both noted that most women interviewed prefer to have “light’s out” sex or sex performed in the dark. They also said that cultural and religious backgrounds affect the women’s likelihood to want to ‘experiment’ during sex and prefer to practice only a few basic sexual positions.

What was interesting was that eating chocolate appears to enhance sexual desire. This could come from the amount of caffeine and cocoa powder present. In fact, scientific studies have been made in which it has been found that eating chocolate helps to enhance desire in women by decreasing premenstrual tension. Women will low libidos (sexual desire) were found to become much more amorous after eating chocolate.

While no real earthshaking revelations came out of this survey, i.e. as compared to women in European countries for example, it does indicate that the sexual habits of Israeli women are not unlike women living in the U.K. or North America. Israeli women’s sexual habits are naturally more liberal than those in surrounding countries who are much more restricted by religious and cultural taboos.

For those who may be interested, a “sextival” or sex festival is being planned next month at the Tel Aviv Port area, in which various sexual enhancing products will be displayed and “seminars” will conducted involving overcoming sexual problems. The 3 day event is being put on by one of the country’s top fashion models, who is also a regular television personality.

No doubt, many of the women interviewed in the above survey will be attending the festival. If they don’t, the men in their lives probably will.

Israeli singer and songwriter, Amir Benayun, announced that he has composed a new melody for Israel’s national anthem, Hatikva, in honor of the country’s 60th birthday. Benayun’s version will be released next week.

Had it been any other artist, I would probably declare this act as a mere publicity stunt, but Amir Benayun is not usually seeking mainstream media attention. His music does not speak to large audiences. In fact, his last album consists of a single, 40-minute-long, piece that was described as a “traditional Arab rock opera”.

In 2002, Benayun was at the heart of a public commotion, stirred by Yosef “Tommy” Lapid (then MK and chairman of Shinui), who, after listening to one of Benayun’s songs, concluded that “We did not invade Tulkarem. Tulkarem invaded us”.

You can listen to Amir Benayun’s music on his myspace page.

U.S. President George Bush’s first official visit to Israel is only days away, but many political analysts are already speculating on whether the President’s two day visit will result an any improvements in the current state of relations between Israel and the Palestinians. Coming virtually at the same time as the outcome of the New Hampshire presidential primary, Bush’s visit will probably not have an influence on the political chances of any of the Republican candidates, including present front runner Mike Huckabee, who won the Iowa Caucuses over other hopefuls Mitt Romney, John McCain, and Rudolf Giuliani.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is also hopeful that the President’s visit will result in some kind of break-though in the current situation which not only has resulted in Palestinian fired rockets reaching the city of Ashkelon, but new acts of terror by members of the Palestinian Fatah organization that Olmert is trying to win over in an alliance against the Hamas controlled Gaza strip.

Bush, shown with both Olmert and Abbas at the recent Annapolis Summit is himself more or less in a “lame duck” political situation in which members of his own political party are trying to distance themselves from his foreign and domestic policies, including those running for public office. In addition to meeting with Israeli government personalities, Bush will also meet with P.A. President Mahmud Abbas and members of his government in a specially arranged meeting in Jericho. Hamas leader and “former” P.A. Prime Minister Ismail Haneyah will not be on the President’s agenda, for obvious reasons.

One thing for sure, however, is that the Bush visit will send a strong message to Iran concerning the President’s feelings about that country’s nuclear program, despite the recent NIE report that the Islamic Republic abandoned it’s nuclear weapons development program in 2003. The President’s visit will help reassure both the IDF and the Israeli government that President Bush still believes that Iran continues to pursue its goal to become a nuclear power.

The big question concerning this topic will be what will happen when Bush leaves office in January, 2009.

Bush will probably try to persuade Olmert to make some kind of concessions with Abbas, including the dismantling of some outpost and “fringe” settlements as a prelude to more serious disengagements that are being planned in the coming months as part of the agreements between Olmert and Abbas at the Middle East Summit in Annapolis Maryland. The only problem from that conference was that most, if not all, of the agreements appeared to have come only from Mr. Olmert and not from Mr. Abbas.

Outside of causing a nerve wracking traffic tie up in much of central Jerusalem during the President’s visit, the prospects of any real breakthroughs being made is a bit doubtful and all that will probably transpire will be a lot of media publicized hand shaking and dinner speeches. Bush will at least see for himself what he has only seen previously in video clips such as parts of the “security wall” in Jerusalem as well as the usual diplomatic sites such as the Yad Vashem Holocaust exhibit and museum and the Kotel or Western Wall in the Old City. Aside from a short visit to Jericho, the remainder of Bush’s visit will be either within the King David Hotel or at the Knesset, where the President is most likely scheduled to address members of Israel’s parliament.

Olmert, who recently has expressed his wishes that former and now comatose P.M. Ariel Sharon was able to assist in solving the country’s political and security problems, will not gain much from Bush’s visit, especially with the chances of a U.S. Democratic Party Presidential administration more possible than ever. What many people in Israel are currently wishing is that a new Israeli government administration will soon be elected to replace the one so ineptly administered by Mr. Olmert and his Kadima Party cronies. That hope is at least as strong as many Americans have regarding replacing the current Republican Party led one in Washington, led by the guy who will disembarking from Air Force One at Ben Gurion Airport this coming Wednesday.

The New Year has barely begun and Hezbollah General Secretary Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah is at it again. This time, he was interviewed on Lebanon’s Al Manar T.V. and made an “offer” to negotiate what he claims are the remains of several Israeli soldiers killed in the July/August 2006 Lebanon war. This offer seems a bit bizarre as the only Israeli soldiers who were declared as missing by the IDF were the crew of the naval patrol ship that was sunk by a Hezbollah launched ground to sea missile, plus the two captured soldiers Udi Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, whose capture actually caused the war to begin in the first place. During his address, Nasrallah made no mention of the two solders, which were captured on July 12, 2006 when their patrol was ambushed by Hezbollah militiamen. The body of one Israeli seaman was returned recently in exchange for several Hezbollah fighters.

The Sheikh also said that his people are preparing for another conflict as he sees no signs of any willingness of the Israeli government to change its position regarding either its relations with Lebanon as well as the rights of Palestinians to return to their homeland. He also said during the interview that his organization has “much more influence over Iran than Iran has over Hezbollah”, and that Israel was responsible for the recent assassination of Lebanese military and political personalities.

Israel wasn’t the only party that came under the Sheikh’s castigation as he said the U.S. government is trying to put it’s influence on the Lebanese government to make a peace deal with Israel and then get rid of the Hezbollah. Nasrallah said that his organization can defend itself against any foreign aggression, whether it comes from Israel or America. Nasrallah spent considerable time talking about his organization’s present status in the Lebanese political realm and that it’s support of certain politicians and military commanders such as Lebanese Army Commander Michel Sulieman is a very deciding factor in General Sulieman’s bid to become the country’s next president.

Regarding a future war with Israel, the Sheikh said that this was possible but would not be for possibly “several months”. Following the publishing of the reports of the investigations in Israel regarding who was responsible for the conduct of the 2006 war, Nasrallah appears to be much more confident his organization’s ability to inflict major damage on Israel should another war take place. And his optimism is good founded as Israel’s entire northern region, including its third largest city was affected by the more than 6,000 Katyusha rockets that were launched against Israeli targets. Recent intelligence reports have said that Hezbollah has not only rearmed itself to the strength it was before the war began but has even acquired missiles that are capable of reaching targets such as Tel Aviv.

The Sheikh ended the interview by saying that members of his party’s political structure would meet to see what they could do to “deal” with the present Lebanese government. Could this mean a Hezbollah sponsored coup is in the offing? Stay tuned folks….

As if we American “ex-pats” don’t have enough concerns, a Republican U.S. presidential candidate is advocating a new law that would virtually forbid American citizens living outside the country to hold dual nationality. The legislation, proposed by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee would place severe restrictions on any U.S. citizen who holds citizenship in another country. Huckabee, a lesser known presidential hopeful, has already spoken out on a number of very sensitive issues, including immigration, and restriction on visitation visas for foreigners who come from countries which have come under “suspicion” in the aftermath of the 9-11 terrorism attack on New York City and Washington D.C.

An ordained Southern Baptist minister, Huckabee has a history of speaking out on ultra conservative topics, and was active in television evangelical crusades that preached “conservative American values” over the airwaves. Some of the restrictions in his proposed “Secure America” bill concerning dual citizenship include forbidding Americans from voting in foreign elections as well as enlisting in military service in other countries. Holding and using a foreign passport would also be forbidden.

For American citizens living in countries like Israel, Poland and Taiwan, the new bill, if ever passed, would cause all sorts of problems, especially for the over 100,000 American citizens living in Israel. The likelihood of this kind of legislation being made into law in the foreseeable future is probably not very possible as this would alienate literally thousands of American citizens who live outside the U.S.A. and vote on absentee ballets in both national and state elections. As for the children of native born U.S. Citizens who receive citizenship through their parents, any bill of this sort would certainly affect them as well.

Huckabee’s chances of gaining his party’s nomination, as well as winning the presidency, are a bit remote, to say the least. Nevertheless, that this kind of change is being talked about in Washington, by others as well does make it a topic that should not be ignored. Israel in particular maintains a special relationship with the U.S.A, and any drastic changes regarding the status of American citizens living in Israel will not be taken lightly. Mr. Huckabee better realize that he really wants to go “all the way to the top” in his political aspirations, then this is not the way to make friends and influence people; especially among the large number of U.S. citizens who maintain foreign domiciles.